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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28966224">my faith in your hands</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThusAPossum/pseuds/ThusAPossum'>ThusAPossum</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Trans, Disjointed, Drabble Collection, English Dub Names, F/M, M/M, One-Sided Wishshipping, Timeline hops, Trans Male Character, Unrequited Crush, Vignette</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:07:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,092</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28966224</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThusAPossum/pseuds/ThusAPossum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of disconnected, slice-of-life drabbles featuring trans!Joey Wheeler.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto, Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Mutou Yuugi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The strangers you knew | Couldn't ever have wanted you [No Warning]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Oh boy, where do I begin? Okay. Well, a few notes before I continue on with posting the first two drabbles of this fic. </p><p>One: Hello! Hi! I'm not new here. I just left more than a decade ago. On a whim, I decided to pop back in to check and see how you kids were doing. Glad to see this fandom isn't quite dead yet. In fact, I have <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/BDEblueyes/pseuds/BDEblueyes">BDEblueyes</a> to thank for SUCKING ME BACK INTO THIS FANDOM. This person is absolutely dangerous, and their amazing fic "Metamorphosis" is a menace to society. Y'all can thank them for this goddamn mess I'm about to inflict upon you. </p><p>Two: I will be using the 4Kids dub names. Ew, I know, I know. However, there are a few reasons for this. I know just enough of Japanese culture and language to get annoyed at inaccuracies, but not enough to ensure I don't make those <i>same</i> mistakes in my own work. Plus, it's difficult enough to write from the perspective of a teenager, let alone one I don't share a culture with. (Trust me, these changes will actually benefit the reading experience.)</p><p>Three: Because we're using the dub names, I'm setting this series in Washington State as Domino City seems to share a lot of similarities with Tacoma, WA, so - yeah. </p><p>Four: Because Joey is a teenager, he will have a lot of internalized transphobia and misogyny that I, as the author, no longer share. Please be advised that this is - in part - a vent fic, which means that I'm pulling a lot from my own experiences of when I was a transmasculine teenager. This includes some tiny sprinkles of problematic ideology that Joey will eventually learn to dispell. (Hehe, get it?) But don't worry, I will be placing warnings in the title and in the chapter notes if something blatant comes up. </p><p>Five: All the drabbles in this series are in the same universe, but the chapters are not always listed in chronological order. Some fics will take place before, during, or after the <i>Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Monsters</i> series. </p><p>Six: Speaking of timelines, this is a ...modern au of sorts? It assumes the main events of <i>Duel Monsters</i> occurred in the 2010's. </p><p>Seven: Unlike a lot of other trans!character fics I have found in the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom, this is a "trans au". Ergo, Joey is not "stealth" or attempting to pass - at least chronologically early in this series. All of his friends know that he's afab. (In fact, that's kind of the point of the first drabble.) If that kind of content bothers you, please do not read any further for your own safety, thank you. </p><p>Anyway, I'm sure I missed a note here or there somewhere, so if there is any confusion, don't hesitate to reach out and ask. More than happy to clarify.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <i>At the end of their first class period, Joey released a deep breath of air through their nostrils. Hm. Nope. No use. The heavy, uncomfortable weight of shame that had clung to their lungs - since their proclamation of friendship with Yugi - remained unabated despite the effort. </i>
</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>One-sided wishshipping is my drug. Don't at me. </p><p>Based on the end of the first <i>Yu-Gi-Oh!</i> manga chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At the end of their first class period, Joey released a deep breath of air through their nostrils. Hm. Nope. No use. The heavy, uncomfortable weight of shame that had clung to their lungs - since their proclamation of friendship with Yugi - remained unabated despite the effort. </p><p> </p><p>A wave of intense heat seared Joey’s cheeks. Man, what a lame display! They suppressed a nervous twitching at the corners of their lips; they refused to chuckle at their own expense.</p><p> </p><p>Oh, well, not much can be done now…</p><p> </p><p>As they gathered their belongings from their desk, a familiar voice chirped from above their head. “Hey!” </p><p> </p><p>Joey’s sternum lurched. Oh no. They looked up, catching Yugi’s magenta gaze peering down at them from beneath a fringe of blonde bangs. (They patently ignored how their fingers itched to reach up and sweep those strands from Yugi’s cherubic face.) </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, hey. What up, Yug’?” <em> Ugh </em>, the moment those words tumbled gracelessly from their lips, Joey internally kicked themselves. Ew, why does that sound so freakin’ weird? “Didja wanna walk to class together?” </p><p> </p><p>“Sure!” Yugi chirped once more. “But, uh, I also came to ask you something. You -uh - well, ran off before I could.” </p><p> </p><p>Joey’s heart battered against its cage. He’s not -? No way!? They were barely friends, right? He couldn’t possibly - </p><p> </p><p>“What are your preferred pronouns?” </p><p> </p><p>Oh. </p><p> </p><p>Yeah. </p><p> </p><p> No. </p><p> </p><p>That was a far more reasonable question than Joey’s (wishful) assumption. </p><p> </p><p>Something in Joey’s expression must have betrayed their displeasure, because in the next moment Yugi stammered, “I only ask because, well,  since we’re friends now, I figured we’ll be hanging out a lot more. And I wanted to use the right pronouns just in case you don’t like she/her or they/them.” </p><p> </p><p>...Oh.</p><p> </p><p>Oh, wow. </p><p> </p><p>After shaking off their self-induced disappointment, it struck Joey that <em> no one else had ever asked what pronouns they preferred </em>. </p><p> </p><p>Sure, on social media, there existed an expectation to share that kind of information beneath an anonymous username and obfuscated profile picture. After all, no one could deduce one’s gender simply by looking at their timeline. And, ironically, that anonymity bred a certain freedom to express oneself in the manner they truly wished. </p><p> </p><p>But referring to themselves as “ he/him” felt disingenuous at best, catfishing at worst. Because, at the end of the day, outside of the four corners of a computer monitor, they were Josephine Wheeler, a female high school delinquent. </p><p> </p><p>Right? </p><p> </p><p>Unless…</p><p> </p><p>Unless…</p><p> </p><p>Yugi stood before them, not only offering companionship, but a kind of self-expression only ever found through a screen. <em> Tristan doesn’t even know how I feel.  </em></p><p> </p><p>It would be so easy just to say …</p><p> </p><p>...just to say …</p><p> </p><p>Just say it! </p><p> </p><p>Yugi cocked his head to the side and asked, “You okay, Joey? You sort of spaced out th -” </p><p> </p><p>“He/him,” Joey choked out. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth. Regardless, the words spilled unbidden from between his chapped lips, “That’s ...what I prefer i-in private, among friends. Um, in public, they/them is okay. She/her only if you absolutely have to.” </p><p> </p><p>With a nod, Yugi made a sound of acknowledgment. “Cool. Good to know.” </p><p> </p><p>A smile tugged at Joey’s mouth. And, oddly enough, the weight on his chest finally dissipated. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. He reads your thoughts, they go to a higher ground [No Warning]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <i>For the hundredth time that day, Joey suppressed a rumbling hum of annoyance. Geez, if that cobalt stare didn't just burn a hole right through his neck! And during his best academic subject, too! </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>What's that guy's problem anyway?</i>
</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The stirrings of <i>puppy</i> love? </p>
<p>...I'll see myself out.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>For the hundredth time that day, Joey suppressed a rumbling hum of annoyance. Geez, if </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> cobalt stare didn't just burn a hole right through his neck! And during his best academic subject, too! </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>What's that guy's problem anyway? </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Attempting some form of subtly, Joey spared a fleeting glance over his shoulder. Yup. Seto Kaiba - some transfer punk from Seattle or Bellevue or wherever - continued</span>
  <em>
    <span> leering</span>
  </em>
  <span> at him, as he had done all class period. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So, instead of paying attention to a lesson he had </span>
  <em>
    <span>some </span>
  </em>
  <span>hope of acing, Joey fretted over some new blood sitting amongst his peers. How dare -? </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Does this dude want a fight? Does pops owe him money somehow? What could he -? </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Oh. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Wait. No. That can't be it. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Aside from his circle of friends, no one </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>of Joey’s gender identity. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Right? </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Yes, Joey wore the jacket and trousers favored by most male students. But his manner of dress wasn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>entirely </span>
  </em>
  <span>unusual for a female student, given that they all had the option for it. After all, Domino City didn't exactly harbor the warmest climate in the world, making it an inhospitable place for skirts. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But, what if -? </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Had he heard Yugi murmur his pronouns? Maybe his unkempt eyebrows and lack of chest gave it away? The fading bruises on his knuckles? How he carried his shoulders? </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The electronic bell signaling the end of class buzzed, heralding a sudden wave of </span>
  <em>
    <span>relief</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Finally! Joey no longer had to suffer the ogling of a pretentious rich kid in silence! He whipped around in his plastic chair, unflattering words at the ready upon his tongue, only to find said pompous jerk nose deep in a book. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Wait. What? Had … had Joey ...imagined it? </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Defeated once more at Duel Monsters, Joey groaned. This game proved to be far more challenging than he had anticipated! That, or, Yugi excelled at it far more than he - as the boy did with all manner of games. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Regardless, despite making a show of leaning back against his desk chair and throwing his hands up over his head in surrender, Joey had fun just throwing down cards with his friends. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh</span>
  </em>
  <span>. But in this new position, a familiar flash of blue caught the corner of Joey’s eye. In his peripheral, once again, Kaiba gawked at him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Wait. No. Not gawked. Observed. As if he were some sort of lab experiment!</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>What gives?</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Before a snarl could touch his muzzle, Joey caught something he hadn't seen before, something that reframed this entire interaction - if it could be referred to as such. Yes, upon closer inspection, a touch of pink stained the apples of Kaiba's sharp cheeks. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Oh. Oh. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ohhhh</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That put a new spin on things, didn't it? Seems Kaiba caught the ol' Joey bug! Oh, well, who could blame the poor kid? Given Joey’s gorgeousness? </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A wolfish grin threatened to pull at Joey's mouth, precluded only by a brief flash of self-awareness. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And, on second glance, Joey could stand to be admired by guys less attractive than Seto Kaiba. Tall, slender, with silky brunette hair, and eyes as blue as steel, he certainly had his ...charms. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Joey’s gone space cadet on us again…" Tristan muttered, </span>
  <em>
    <span>rudely </span>
  </em>
  <span>yanking Joey out of his reverie. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Who you callin' a space cadet, Taylor!?" Joey barked. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Laughter burst from the group. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh, btw, fun fact, my name is Joey because of the English dub. This was not by choice, haha. If anyone wants that story, let me know in the comments.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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